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Hellbug's Heroes
Hellbug's Heroes began their career in Season II, picking up the spot of the unsuccessful and abandoned Nurgle team from Season I. Run by The Hellbug and placed in Division B with the Fancy Lads, Red Sabers, Rampage, and the Johnny's Quest, they were a cup contender in Season II and a notably powerful returning team in Season III, losing in the finals to the Fancy Lads. The team as a whole is notable for its powerful "ground and pound" running game that made it one of the most feared playoff contenders, even if they never actually performed well enough in the normal season to pick up any awards there. They finally realized the fruits of these strong playoff perfomances when they took home the cup after a victory over Feets Reloaded. Season By Season Season II: "These Guys Made it to the Playoffs?" Being a new team featuring a race that had never seen play in the GiTP Blood Bowl League--their partial-namesake had actually been a Nurgle team-- the Hellbug and his Heroes didn't know what to expect for their first season. Their predecessors had been very bad, but they had been mismanaged so the season started off hopeful. They began the season, however, with a painful loss to fellow-new-team and division rivals The Johnny's Quest, where the Heroes began their long-standing tradition of not being able to put any points on the board. The first half of their season would pretty much follow this trend with notable exceptions being their win over MAIM KILL BURN and surprise tie with the more and more intimidating-looking Styx Rivermen. Going into the All-Star break 1-4-1, things didn't look good for the rest of the season. After the All-Star game, however, things began to look noticably brighter for the Heroes. With their only losses port-All-Star-break coming at the hands of the veteran Fancy Lads and scrappy Die Valkyrie, the Heroes went into the last two weeks of the season 3-6-1, even beating the League's previous champions, the Red Sabres, on the way. In the last two weeks of the regular season, Tinwe United and Rampage, already having secured their playoff berths and hoping to not risk injury against the potentially dangerous defense of the Heroes, sat their whole squads and allowed the Heroes end the season 5-6-1, tipping the balance against the rival Johnnys' and securing a spot in the playoffs. The playoffs did not look like a good prospect for the Heroes, slated to play against the Division B Champions and perenial favorites The Fancy Lads, whom the Heroes had lost to in the regular season. Nevertheless, due in part to a tremedously large amount of inducement money and the fact that the Lads only fielded an 11 player squad, the Heroes were able to slip into the semifinals with a convincing 2-0 victory, even killing Lads star blitzer George along the way. Their next target was the current league champion The Red Sabres in the semifinals. In a bloody match that ended regulation time 1-1, the Heroes went on to win 2-1 in double overtime against the heavily-favored Sabres. There were later allogations of foul play against Sabres star Morr E.N. Tezz, but the charges were dropped in light of Tezz's string of bad performances even before that game. The Heroes' cinderella run would finally end against the Styx Rivermen in the finals with a disastrous loss of 2-0 that may have come in part due to injuries sustained during the Sabres match. At the end of the season, The Hellbug looked back and saw that it was a very good start for the rookie team. While there were no stand-out performances by any single player on the team, though they did infamously clog up the top of the KO's chart by the end of the season, almost every player was at least a bit of a contributer, which would go on to be one of the strengths of the team in subsequent seasons. Additionally, only one permanent injury was sustained all season (and in the finals at that), allowing the whole team, with the exception of the Duke Dangerous the always-mediocre minotaur, to be rehired in Season III. Their cinderella story Season II remains one of the most famous in the league, following that of the Red Sabres and their miraculous vicotry in Season I. Season III: "Taking Their Rightful Place" Season III saw the Heroes as one of the returning teams to be placed in the all-veteran Division B alongside the Red Sabres, Fancy Lads, Johnnys' Quest, and Rampage. After a rocky first couple of games, the regular season would be defined by the vteran lineup tearing apart unmanaged teams (which were really endemic that season). Because of the rest of Division B's management, however, a record of 6-4-3 would actually tie their rivals and winners of a wild card, the Fancy Lads. The regular season was mostly uneventful, with the notable exception being the maturation of Brunbob Plarduny as the Heroes' preeminent scoring threat. A good deal stronger than most other runners in the league, he gave the Heroes the sort of inevitable offensive consistency that would allow their stellar defense to win games. Additionally, Ajax and Orgetorix really began to stand out as the defensive powerhouses on the line of scrimmage, with Vercingetorix and Andecembogius taking the back seat. Due to the prevalence of unmanaged teams and the poor performance of the Red Sabres, this was the only season when the Heroes' playoff seat was not in doubt. Their quarterfinal match against Triple S was anything but a sure thing. The teams had met twice before, and Triple S had not taken a game yet, but they had improved by leaps and bounds since their meeting in the preseason. The match would be remembered as the bloodiest in league history, especially for one between managed teams. The Heroes actually struggled in the casualty department, but were up 2-1 in the final minutes of the match with a severely diminished side. However, a missed go-for-it would cause the Strut to fail to equalize in the final seconds of the match, sparing the Heroes a potentially painful overtime. The semifinal match which would prove to be much less eventful, put the Heroes up against the upstart Bloodknights, a vampire team with something to prove. In short, miscommunication and poor ball handling plagued the vampires, leading to an easy 2-0 win for Hellbug's Heroes. Primed to not have a repeat of the previous season, the Heroes faced off against one of their greatest rivals, the Fancy Lads, in the finals. Unfortunately, a close-fought game would become a 2-0 loss for the Heroes when beastman Flush made a crucial fumble, allowing the orcs to score the sealing goal. Disapointed again, the Heroes promised to return again to claim what they sought. All in all, season III was a solid season for Hellbug's Heroes. While they didn't have an especially astounding record including losses to all of the managed rookie teams and their dreaded rivals, the Johnnys', the Heroes performed exceptionally well against the other returning teams. Their performance in the plaoffs proved that season II was no fluke. However, the end of the season would see the Hellbug dropping players due to injuries for the first time in the form of Vercingetorix. Players "GitP Cup Films" Appearance Hellbug's Heroes are noted for being the first team to ever be chronicled by "GitP Cup Films". The feature focused on their debut season woes, leading up to their eventual face-off with the Styx Rivermen at mid-season. After the episode aired, the Heroes went on to qualify for a wild-card spot in the playoffs. They then went on to defeat The Fancy Lads and Red Sabres (both of which were heavily favored to win), before falling the the Styx Rivermen in the Cup Final. "GitP Cup Films" Transcript Narrator: It started as a dream, a vision. After a drunken bender to end all drunken benders, The Hellbug, owner of Hellbug's Heroes, found himself in possession of the Hometown Heroes' contract for a team in the Blood Bowl League. He inherited a franchise that was deep in debt, nearly winless, and full of half-witted Nurgle players to boot. It was a dark time. However, solace was found in a plan. Using money obtained in a series of petty burglaries along the coast of the Elven homeland, the team was made solvent. The participants in these burglaries became the stating line for the Heroes, now named for their owner. Soon, the first game of the season rolled around. Team Captain Ajax: Of course we all thought we knew what we were getting into. Everybody watches the games on Cabalvision. I was inspired to join the team by watching Fredo Stefani last season. When Hellbug came to me with the offer, I couldn't turn it down. Okus, our first game was against some pansy wood elves. How bad could it have been? Narrator: Unfortunately for the Heroes, any preseason optimism was soon to be crushed. Orgetorix: They were so little, like puppies. I mean, you can't bring yourself to really lay into an elf. That is, until I saw what they did to Dryhauser. They swarmed him like a pack of wolves. I've never heard a beastman scream the way he did then. I think we can all agree, that was the moment when we realized what Blood Bowl really means. Narrator: Hellbug's Heroes would go on to lose that 2-0, a devastating loss for the young team, and beastman Max Dryhauser would be put on the disabled list, having suffered a broken arm, a smashed foot, and shattered pride. Brunbob: We went into the next week with a lot less optimism. I mean, if you can't thrash around a wood elf team, what's going to happen to you against the Daemons of Korne? Narrator: Luckily, the Heroes would suffer none of the bad luck that plagued them in the first game. One hour before the match with MKB, the sky darkened at let loose a torrent of rain that wouldn't end until far after the match was over. Stellar play on the part of the ballcarriers would result in a 2-1 victory for the Heroes, with MKB never able to fully get up to speed on account of poor aility to pick up the ball. The Hellbug: That win was a godsend. If we'd gone into our bye week 0 and 2, I don't think the boys woulda taken it too well. Losing to the elves and your rival cultists two weeks in a row? THere woulda been hell to pay. Narrator: Coming off of their bye week, the Heroes would lose two consecutive games to human and necromantic teams. The Hellbug himself was growing tired of the lack of casualties inflicted by his team, and they were about to go up against the undefeated Styx Rivermen, the undisputed 'bad boys' of the league. Every man on the team treated that day like it would be his last. Ajax: When I got down to the pitch, I lined up against Bull the Butcher. I had seen people do that that wouldn't be living only minutes later. Looking into his eyes was like gazing into the void. And this void looked right back. Trush: We really didn't think we had a chance in that game. I definitely heard guys in the locker room saying that they might fake injuries if they went down just so that they could live through the game. Coach wasn't to pleased about that. Narrator: The Rivermen got off to an early start, with Tom Gravy quickly scoring a touchdown against the incapacitated Heroes defense. With the score 1-0 midway through the first half, Brunbob received the kick and began charging up the field. Brunbob: They tried, they really did. I saw my teammates throwing themselves in the way of oncoming Rivermen in order t get me up the field. Eventually, there was nobody left but me, and the Khemri got to me. Narrator: It was the low point of the game, and defeat was certain, but that would soon change. Chaos Warrior Andecembogius grabbed the ball and hurled it downfield toward the endzone, where nobody from either team was standing. Andecembogius: I don't even know what I was thinking. Coach always told me to never throw the ball, but that was the only way I could stop the Rivermen from scoring. Hell, I didn't even see the touchdown because th Rivermen clobbered me so bad afterward. Narrator: Beastman Trush would be the second hero of the game. Seeing Andecmbogius's lame duck attempt at a pass, he quickly scrambled up, grabbed the ball and scored with only seconds left in the half. Neither team would score in the second half, and the final score would remain tied at 1 to 1. The Hellbug: I never though we could do it. I don't care that it was almost entirely luck and that we didn't even win; that was the best game I've seen the boys play all season. Here's to the rest of it. To be continued... Category:Season IV Category:Season III Category:Season II Category:Teams Category:Chaos